Update

Greetings!

Well, all that is left of two of my big projects is now paperwork! The Spelling Bee went extremely well, the kids had a great time and some are already talking about next year. The actual competition was a bit tense, as two boys went at it for a LONG time and I was worried we were going to run out of words! Two first year volunteers have already volunteered to take over the project for next year, so one of their jobs is going to be to increase the word list! But eventually we had a boy winner and a girl winner, though everyone went home with prizes. A huge thank you to everyone who donated to this awesome project, I will post pictures when I am down in Cotonou with fast internet in a couple of weeks.

Sunday I headed out early with my kids to get back to village and took a quick nap, switched bags, and headed up to Bante to do our camp! I was directing the girls camp and Lucy was directing the boys camp, they were running at the same time but in two different locations, we all came together for the last day. It was a super great time, though I was really fighting exhaustion and was SO ready for some solitude and coffee on Saturday morning! But the kids had a great time which is what really matters. Thanks to everyone who sent art supplies and other goodies over the last year, the kids loved them!

Phew! I slept most of yesterday, (Saturday), and then last night I called home to wish everyone a happy fourth - It was so great to hear voices, even for just a few minutes! Now that camp and the spelling bee are over, my service actually feels like it is winding down. The new volunteers arrived last night, too! Welcome, newbies! I am not working training this year, I am glad I did it last year but don't want to do it again. Besides, I'm really feeling like I'm ready to leave and i think that the first year volunteers, just going into their second year, will do a better job!

This week I am looking at heading to an artisans festival just over the Togo border, as my visa is still good from when I visited there a few months ago, and my lovely British friend will be going. We'll see if it works out. I head to Cotonou on the 20th for my COS Medical physical and testing, to make sure I don't have any rare tropical diseases or malaria or anything like that. I don't expect any problems. I also teach English to the UN Refugees that following weekend, so that will be a few days in Cotonou. After that, the 2nd week of August is the larger girls camp in Parakou. I'm bringing four girls, and will actually go early to help set it up, but don't have a huge role to play in the actual execution of the camp. I'm really looking forward to it, though!! After that... the last weekend of August is when my replacement will come visit me for a few days here in village. Then... I'm outta here!

So that's a brief rundown of the next two and a half months or so. I have alot of paperwork to complete, I need to see my latrine project to completion as well. There's a huge cement shortage right now, alot of volunteers are dealing with that headache and several building projects are on hold. I'm hoping it will actually be able to be finished before the end of my service!! Other than that, nothing too stressful and I'm looking forward to enjoying the next two and a half months of my service winding down. Then comes Mercy Ships!! I'm really excited about that!! Then Christmas at home with my family!!! Lets not get ahead of ourselves, though....

Thanks again to everyone who supported the spelling bee and those who sent encouraging emails about camp! I'm trying to respond to emails but of course my internet isn't great, so please be patient with me. :)

Peace, Krissy